Trust in governments surges during pandemic alongside health fears

People are less concerned about the economy and more about people’s wellbeing and have put their faith in governments around the world to get them through the coronavirus pandemic.

Governments are now more trusted than businesses, non-profit organisations and the media, according to consultancy Edelman’s Trust Barometer report, which surveyed more than 13,000 people from 11 countries.

“Faced with one of the biggest health and financial crises in history, people are turning to their governments for leadership and hope,” said Edelman CEO Richard Edelman, in an emailed statement.

“The speed and scale of the lockdowns, the brave performance of the public health services and the extent of public expenditure to support the private sector have shown government taking quick decisive action. This is a stunning turnaround for government which has always languished at or near the bottom of the trust hierarchy,” he added.

This is a large change compared with Edelman’s January survey, which had business as the most trusted institution and government and the media tied as the least.

Only 29% agreed that chief executive officers and business leaders were doing an "outstanding job" meeting the demands of the moment.

"Business will be looked at very closely in the months ahead," Edelman said, focusing on matters such as how companies perform in areas such as retaining and reskilling workers or using small businesses in their supply chains.

What has also changed is that a substantial majority of people around the world prefer their governments to prioritise saving lives over moves to restart economies.

Overall, 67% of the 13,200-plus people interviewed between April 15 and April 23 agreed with the statement: "The government's highest priority should be saving as many lives as possible even if it means the economy will recover more slowly."

Just one-third put the economy first: "It is becoming more important for the government to save jobs and restart the economy than to take every precaution to keep people safe.

Authorities in New Zealand and Vietnam have been praised for early moves to halt the spread with social distancing measures while governments in the United States, UK, Japan, Russia and elsewhere have faced criticism for a lack of preparedness.